28 replies to this topic

[will]

hey all i recently had a 310L marine tank that crashed, had over 9 fish, tangs, clowns, u kno the usual, b4 that i had 4 fish in my 90L tank all was well untill i put them into the big tank, everything just died, aniways i been researching alot and now going for sumthing a bit smaller, so just bought a 160L tank, um ill post pics, of everything from start to finish and wat equipment i use, feel free to leave comments and advice as all is needed here some start up piks for now enjoy

[Warby]

Cool, will be watching Good luck with it and hopefully things go a bit better for you this time... any idea what caused the crash?

[Paddy]

At a guess I'd say the 9 fish incl tangs.

[will]

not 100% sure, for a while i kinda drifted off it like just put fish in straight away, like week after week id have a new fish, so maybe to much stress? i dunno, and i also put live rock and corals in, and from wat ive heard or seen generally ur supposed to put the live rock and coral in 1st before fish and let it run for 2 weeks or so if im correct then add fish?, there my 2 assumptions but yer if any 1 could maybe suggest wat caused it ill try not to do i this time

[Warby]

Do a bit of a google on cycling your aquarium and go buy yourself a few test kits.. Always take your time when starting a new tank, test your parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in particular during the cycle - these are your indicators of how the cycle is progressing) and don't add livestock until you have been through the various phases (Ammonia & nitrite will rise and fall as various bacterial colonies form, followed by nitrate as the last step.. once nitrates have dropped down to zero, or close to it, then you can start slowly adding your livestock)

Liverock tends to undergo some "die off" in the aquarium.. not everything living on that rock survives the transition from ocean->collector->wholesaler->store->your house->your tank ..... so if your rock isn't cured (google is your friend) then you will find that this die off causes more ammonia spikes, which will kill your livestock if you have any in there at that time...

Do a bit more reading and you should be sweet

-Dave

[will]

thanks dave that was really helpfull

[Neakit]

its also a good practice to quarantine fish for 6 weeks before putting them into your display. Live rock should go in and then you should not put anything in for at least till the cycle has completely finished so you have no measurable ammonia or nitrite. then stock your aquarium slowly. Also tangs aren't really good for a small tank. you can never be too patient with a marine aquarium.

[will]

so far tanks going good, had water cycling for 2 weeks, all levels are good just have a question, im looking to add live rock soon, but i dunno wat i should do, im going to be running a eheim 2211 filter, to help a bit and a air pump for water movement so there are no dead spots in the tank, with adding the live rock, should i have a protein skimmer? as i wont be running a sump..

[Kieran]

See your other thread for eheim info

Yes run a skimmer.
Use lots of live rock and don't add any corals for a couple months. Cycle the system properly and allow a balance to come about.
Build slowly, allow the food chain to build up, ie don't put fish in first. Your system will not be mature for at least 12 months.

[Warby]

You will need to look at increasing your water movement.. an airpump isn't really going to do anything for circulation. If you can afford it then have a look at some of the tunze or vortech powerheads, if your budget won't stretch that far (I know mine certainly doesnt ) then look at cheaper options...

start thinking now about exactly what you want in this tank and then get the equipment that you will need to keep that livestock (eg if you want SPS corals then you need to look at LOTS of water movement + powerful lights.. if you only want a FOWLR setup then a powerhead + t8 lighting will do ... etc)

-Dave

[Neakit]

don't worry bout using the eheim canister you will need more power heads than just that to not have dead spots. skimmers are a good idea but not essential, tho in saying that they will delay impending disaster by a while. Just after you add your live rock make sure the cycle has gone through properly before adding creatures and then only very slowly add them in, eg 2 or 3 weeks apart.

[will]

thank you all for the help

[Kieran]

If you would like some more basics I suggest reading the entire of This(click) and youtubing for some more visual video guides. youtube is also good for stealing ideas from

[Warby]

And hit up the MASA and ReefCentral forums too - loads of good marine info there

[will]

oh n random question to paddy what would 9 fish including tangs cause my tank to crash lol? incase ur unsire pr sumfin or dnt kno by tangs i mean regal tangs

[ofishyfish]

I recently setup a marine tank about +7 months ago and after doing lots ande lots of reading I wouldnt not have a protein skimmer. they do so much, I would get rid of the filter and get a protein skimmer. In my 200l tank i have one small tunze turbelle and that is sufficient water movment. i have another tunze in there but i never have it switched on the poor fish have to swim so hard to get from one end of the tank to the other.

If you are looking at good live rock you cant go past live rock from Cairns. i bought a box for $200.00 and it has the best purple coraline algae on it.

If you are going to go corals I def recommend a metal halide. i ran mine forawhile without it and the corals barely opened up now i have the halide they always looks great.
As far as salt water goes I also recommend the real stuff i get mine delivered and it is soo cheap. I have a 200l gallon drum out the bank and for $40 I get that filled and my tank water changed over. So much easier than stuffing around with making your own.

[Neakit]

i have another tunze in there but i never have it switched on the poor fish have to swim so hard to get from one end of the tank to the other.

The water in the ocean on a reef moves at 4 meters per second near the face soo fish i think are ok with high flow......

[Paddy]

oh n random question to paddy what would 9 fish including tangs cause my tank to crash lol? incase ur unsire pr sumfin or dnt kno by tangs i mean regal tangs

Because you are putting them into a 310L tank. I have a 1500L system and have about 9 fish. Despite the fact that a regal tang can grow over a foot long and would be lucky to turn around in your 310L tank once fully grown.

[will]

oh fair enough, but its just i had 2 regal tangs and 2 clown fish (all juvenilles) in my lil 90L tank for like 1 yr mind u this was wen i first begun so didnt kno much but yer they were fine in there, and wen the tangs were in my bigger tank they were fine. i thin it was just over stock of fish, my brother kept buying me fish week after week, i wouldnt do this but yer, aniways thanks for the info.

AND NEW PIKS UP GUYS GOT MY LIVEROCK (7KG) FROM A MEMBER ON HERE, now i started my new job gotta buy a power head, and a tunze nano skimmer,
if any 1 knows a good power head brand let me know, i lookd at some but didnt know wat to get, considering its a weird tank. 2ft long by 2 ft wide its basically a square aniways i didnt want something that was to powerfull that made it hard to swim wen i get fish, so if any 1 got ideas of what powerhead let me kno

[Neakit]

the most common ones are tunze and vortech. Both have their pros and cons, i can only talk about the tunzes cause thats all i have, and i would recommend them if you have the extra cash to play with.